California’s long wait for election results is again drawing criticism, but Democratic leaders at the state Capitol say they are not willing to speed up the count by limiting access to the ballot.
The latest debate followed California’s primary election, when it took about a week for enough votes to be counted to project the outcome of the high-profile governor’s race. The slow release of results attracted national attention, renewed accusations from election skeptics and prompted calls for reforms to make California’s vote count faster.
Election analyst Nate Silver called California an extreme outlier in how slowly it counts ballots compared with other states and industrialized democracies. Some online responses to the delays falsely suggested the extended count was evidence of manipulation. The New York Times editorial board also criticized California’s election system, arguing that delayed results can undermine public confidence and create openings for misinformation. Gov. Gavin Newsom has similarly urged counties to report results more quickly, warning that delays can weaken trust in the process.
But many California Democrats, including those who oversee election policy in Sacramento, say faster results cannot come at the expense of voters who rely on mail ballots or late voting options.
Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, a Democrat who chairs the Assembly elections committee and previously served as Santa Cruz County registrar, said same-night results would require major restrictions, such as a return to mostly in-person voting or earlier deadlines for mailed ballots.
“If you want results election night, you’re going to have to go back to in-person voting, way earlier deadlines for returning by mail, and you’re going to end up disenfranchising voters,” Pellerin said.
Pellerin said that despite public frustration, county elections offices are doing their jobs and continuing to process ballots carefully.
“It’s actually going really well, and elections officials are working around the clock, and we’re getting results,” she said.
Other Democratic lawmakers who have worked on election legislation, including Assemblymember Marc Berman of Palo Alto and Sen. Tom Umberg of Santa Ana, have also said they do not support restrictions on voting access as a way to accelerate results. Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat who chairs the Senate elections committee and is running for Congress, said candidates may want quicker answers, but that cannot be the top priority.
“As a candidate, believe me, I would love for the counting to happen faster,” Wiener said. “I don’t think the right answer is disenfranchising people.”
Secretary of State Shirley Weber has also said accuracy should take precedence over speed. Weber, who is expected to win another term this fall, has previously dismissed some concerns about the slow count as echoing rhetoric used by President Donald Trump and his allies.
“I know the value of being fast for some folks,” Weber told CalMatters in April. “For me, accuracy is far more important.”
Some critics have focused on California’s rule allowing mail ballots to be counted if they arrive up to seven days after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked on time. That policy could face broader legal uncertainty as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to invalidate a similar law in Mississippi.
But election officials and researchers say much of California’s delay comes from the large number of mail ballots that arrive on Election Day or shortly before it — not only from ballots that arrive days later.
California adopted universal vote-by-mail during the pandemic, sending every registered voter a ballot. The system has become highly popular. In last year’s statewide special election, nearly 90% of votes were cast by mail. A decade ago, by comparison, fewer than 60% of voters in general elections used mail ballots.
Mail ballots, however, take more work to process than ballots cast in person and scanned at vote centers. Counties must verify registration, ensure voters have not cast multiple ballots and check signatures. That process requires time, staff, equipment and space.
Eric McGhee, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, said counties have not received a consistent stream of state funding to match the demands of the vote-by-mail system.
“They’re kind of managing the best they can with the budget that they have,” McGhee said of county registrars. “But it’s a lot to handle.”
Unlike some states, California does not provide ongoing election administration funding to counties. Colorado, another universal vote-by-mail state, covers 45% of election costs when a statewide issue appears on the ballot. Hawaii shares expenses with counties for statewide and federal elections. Arizona reimburses counties $1.25 per active registered voter for presidential primaries.
In Yolo County, Registrar Jesse Salinas said more than half of the primary ballots that arrived this month were mail ballots returned on Election Day. He said only about 30% of ballots can be matched automatically by scanners, while the remaining 70% require human review.
“When people ask, ‘Well, why aren’t you working harder?’” Salinas said, he tells them that vote center staff work 19 straight days, including early voting periods that can last up to 15 days.
On Election Day, Salinas said, the Yolo County elections office is so packed with boxes of mail ballots that there is no room for additional machines or employees, even if funding were available. Handling more ballots quickly would require a larger facility.
“When you have that large volume hitting you at the 11th hour, there’s no way you can go through all of that in one night,” he said.
Orange County, by contrast, counted ballots more quickly this year after investing $4 million in new mail ballot processing equipment. Registrar Bob Page and his staff processed more than 807,000 ballots in a little over a week, with employees working from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and also working a Saturday shift.
Salinas said state funding would make a significant difference for counties. California paid for the costs of Newsom’s 2021 recall election and the 2025 statewide special election on redistricting, which allowed Yolo County to upgrade equipment.
But counties are facing other financial pressures, including the loss of federal and state Medi-Cal dollars and structural budget deficits that have forced departments to reduce spending. Even during an election year, Salinas said, his office was told to cut $1.1 million.
Original source: CalMatters
